1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communication networks and, in particular, to an IMS network that provides purchasing sessions to one or more mobile devices that are located proximate to a business. More particularly, the IMS network provides an advertisement to the mobile devices that are located proximate to the business, and then allows the mobile devices to purchase items from the business.
2. Statement of the Problem
Location-based services are services offered by some cell phone providers for sending custom advertising and other content to cell-phone subscribers based on their present location. A server in the cellular network obtains or determines the location of the cell phone, such as from a GPS signal, and then identifies content relevant to that location. The server may then send the relevant content to the cell phone, such as in the form of a text message. As an example, a cell phone subscriber may subscribe to a service that provides information on restaurants that are in the same vicinity as the subscriber.
One problem with cellular networks or other communication networks that provide location-based services is that the server in the communication network transmits the content to the user, and then the server does not have further interaction with the user. In one example, a server in the communication network may transmit a text message about restaurants to a user. The text message comprises a push of the restaurant content to the user, and the user is not allowed to further interact with the server responsive to the text message. In another example, the server in the communication network may transmit a text message containing an advertisement for a business. The text message comprises a push of the business content to the user, and the user is not allowed to further interact with the server responsive to the text message.
One type of communication network gaining popularity is an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network. As set forth in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), IMS provides a common core network having a network architecture that allows for various types of access networks. The access network between a communication device and the IMS network may be a cellular network (e.g., CDMA or GSM), a WLAN (e.g., WiFi or WiMAX), an Ethernet network, or another type of wireless or wireline access network. The IMS architecture is initially defined by the 3GPP to provide multimedia services to communication devices over an Internet Protocol (IP) network, as IP networks have become the most cost effective bearer network to transmit video, voice, and data. Service providers are accepting this architecture in next generation network evolution.
One problem with present IMS networks is that location based services have not been effectively defined or implemented in IMS networks, as may be desired.